Recently, I received a Wizard Die Cutter from one of our sponsors, Spellbinders. I love using freezer paper to stencil shirts, so I wondered if the Wizard could help me out with making a fun stencil. I used the Big Scalloped Circle dies from the Nestabilities line to make this design:

If you've cut freezer paper stencils before, you know how time consuming it can be, especially if you've got an intricate pattern. This design, however, took no time at all! I ran half the design through in one pass, and then took the three smaller flower dies and positioned them on the other side of the large flower to complete a symmetrical pattern. Once those were cut out, I ironed them onto the shirt. I used a few of the smaller cut out flowers for the centers of the larger blooms, and used a couple of hole punches for the centers of the smaller flowers.

Once the freezer paper is firmly ironed on, it's time to paint! Using fabric stencil and a brush, paint in your design. Let it dry well before removing the stencil. If you're as impatient as I am, use a blow dryer to speed up your dry time. Because I was painting a light color on a colored shirt, I used two coats of paint, drying the first coat well before applying the second.

There's your design! You can leave it as is, or use a fabric pen to outline the flowers. I outlined mine, and then embellished them a bit further by putting little black polka dots in the centers.

And here's the final project, all ready for spring:

It would have taken me forever to cut out all those little scallop-y shapes by hand. Using the Wizard die cutter saved tons of time, and I love the results! There are lots of other die shapes available, so the design possibilities are endless. I used the Wizard for lots of other fun projects too, and posted about them in the Craftster blog here: http://www.craftster.org/blog/?p=8149

Adorable! I just received a freezer paper stencil kit from one of the last OWS rounds. I've been fiddling with them a lot and have been sort of frustrated. It's a super clever idea to use a die cut machine for the stencils to save time (and sanity). I'll have to look into it.

EDIT: I don't know what sort of material Grungeboard is made of, it did not do well. I ran it through a couple of times, and although it makes a nice indention on the board, it did not cut through. I am a bit surprised, because I used these dies to cut felt and they cut that perfectly in the first pass. I thought about going a few more times to see if I could get a good cut, but I don't want to run the risk of dulling the dies. I don't have any Grunge Paper. Maybe that would work better.